Staged for a small (but packed) audience in a tent outside the Stratford Perth Museum, 12 Dinners is an intimate and humble piece of hyper-personal storytelling produced six minutes down the road from the Avon Theatre where stalwart character actor Steve Ross is having the run of his career as the sparkling lead of the Stratford Festival’s La Cage aux Folles.
The extratexual detail almost any Stratford theatre-goer brings with them to Here For Now Theatre’s world premiere of Ross’ new play is like an emotional booster pack for a production that leaves a bit of the script’s great potential somewhat unfulfilled. The warmth and humour of Ross’ script doesn’t need the help of an audience coming in with built-in fondness for its familiar leading man but it certainly raises our investment and the melancholy ending is given a reassuring boost by the knowledge that young Steve will turn out ok. The throwaway line of “you’ve got a pretty good singing voice” can be just a nice compliment from a complicated father, or an easter egg wink at the show down the road: it doesn’t need to be both but it’s fun that it is.
Ross’ autobiographical script stands on its own as a sharply honest and radically empathetic portrait of a family trying to be close. The evocative level of detail in the script delivers both comedy and tragedy and is reflected in Jan Alexandra Smith’s precise direction (there’s some silent business with a gravy boat that hit me where it hurts). In less specific moments, however, while Smith is a great physical director, her style seems somewhat out of place here in a quiet piece about communication.
This disconnect reflects in the performances as all three cast members shine in climactic moments and struggle with the naturalism that is, ironically, one of Steve Ross’ great strengths as a performer. While Ben Skipper looks uncannily like a younger Ross, he seems to be forcing his voice down in fourth-wall-breaking narration scenes to match Ross’ real baritone, which makes it harder for him to capture the less superficial nuances of the character. Jane Spidell, similarly, is buried in clothes and hair that very specifically mimic a generational mom aesthetic but, at such close proximity in the Here For Now tent, she looks heavily costumed rather than merely dressed and her performance in an incredibly difficult role has to push really hard to break through with the necessary honesty.
On the strength of the storytelling, bolstered by the planning and magic of time and place that gives the audience consequential context, 12 Dinners is an engrossing and moving piece of theatre though this particular production has a stiffness that seems at odds with the casual tone and bare sincerity of the script.